


Ultralife

by Eunmih, shitty4eyes



Series: High On Life [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Clubbing, M/M, Medical Student Changkyun, One Shot, Slice of Life With Some Spice, Supernatural Elements, [Redacted] Kihyun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-10
Packaged: 2020-06-25 13:48:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19747015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eunmih/pseuds/Eunmih, https://archiveofourown.org/users/shitty4eyes/pseuds/shitty4eyes
Summary: Across the club, at a small table, sits a boy in a pink sweater. A boy who calls himself 'bad luck'. What are the chances of 'bad luck' turning out to be 'extra luck'? What are the chances of life becoming just a little ultra?





	Ultralife

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday, Marciely!  
> Thank you for always hyping us up and screaming about Changkis in the DMs with us. Keep on being you!!!
> 
> And for those of you who aren't Marciely; happy Changkis!!!

00:47, and Changkyun is in the middle of a dance floor.

It’s a very spontaneous, spur of the moment sort of thing, this whole ‘going out dancing’ business.

From somewhere between 22:30 and 23:00, Changkyun paced, certain he’d leave actual dents in the carpet, and the laptop just _stared_ at him. The little webcam, like some sinister cyclops, transmitting his outright and yet low-key panic to the FBI. Why the Americans would give a crap about one Korean medical student waiting for his final exam results is beyond him, but _you never know._

He studied for months. For _years_ , really, if he counted the last four years of medical school wearing down on him like his feet on that stupid, cheap carpet. 

He kicked it like it would help. 

Emotionally? It helped a little.

He glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight. The head of the department had sworn on his mother’s grave (Changkyun may have pushed him into that, a little) that the results would be out on the seventh of July. It was the sixth of July, 23:57. _Professor Chan’s mother better have her will in order._

Changkyun refreshed the page at 00:01. Because, patience.

His phone rang at 00:05, and Changkyun was still just staring back at the screen. Either the FBI saw him freeze up and didn’t give a shit, or he had disproved the whole thing. But still, Changkyun didn’t even look at his phone as he picked it up, pressing it to his ear, eyes on the screen.

“I passed,” he told whoever felt the need to call him.

“Er, what?” Jooheon said on the other side of the line.

“You’re not home,” Changkyun realised, looking around at the empty living room. “Shit, I thought you were in bed.”

“I was… in bed--” A muffled sound. “That doesn’t sound like the ‘music’ of people dying in the E.R…. Where are you?”

“I’m home, my--my exam results just went live, I passed,” Changkyun said, laughed a little, hand to his mouth. “I passed real fuckin’ good, Joo.”

“Wait. One second.” There were a few more muffled sounds. And then some more. Something that sounded like a fridge. “Congratu-fucking-lations!”

“Thanks!” Changkyun laughed again, paused. _Wait_. “Whose fridge is that?”

“Clearly not ours,” Jooheon said, _clearly_ slurping on something.

Changkyun closed his laptop. His eyes were starting to burn. “Did you go _out_ ? Are you at some hot guy’s house right now, what is _happening_?!”

“I am not even sure if this _is_ his house. But there’s ice cream and milk packs in the fridge, like, the teeny tiny ones? The ones with flavours! Strawberry, banana… I think this one is cherry? Oh, _look,_ tiny juice packs… And there’s so many...”

“I can’t believe _you_ got laid on the night--on my night! You asshole!”

“I didn’t actually!” Jooheon said, finished with a loud slurp. “He fell asleep. Which… Thank god! I would have passed out if we weren’t literally just… sleeping together.”

“What do you mean--what--I’m so confused.”

“Remember that guy I told you I had a crush on?”

Changkyun gasped. “ _No_ …”

“I am _weak,_ Kyun. He was having a bad day so… I… I’m on teddy bear duty, Kyun.”

“That’s not fair,” Changkyun whined. “Teddy bear duty is for--for people in committed relationships! You just skipped five steps, I’m so jealous!”

“I am in a committed brolationship with you.”

“And yet, I am deprived. _Deprived_ . I just passed a medical exam and I have _no_ snuggles.”

“Precisely my point. Anyway, Minhyuk is asleep, so I’m, _obviously,_ checking out the most important place of all; the fridge. I’m impressed!”

Changkyun huffed a breath, leaned back in the chair and contemplated. “I should go find a fridge, ours is empty as fuck…”

“Don’t worry, Kyun. I’m taking notes.”

“Do you need notes on how to suck your crush’s dick? Honestly, Joo.”

“Do you _really_ need to _put it_ like that? I am too innocent for these types of talks!”

Changkyun laughed, getting up to walk to his room, switching the light on. It wasn’t messy, thank god. He can’t study if it’s messy, but he doesn’t have to study for a while now so when he opened the closet, he practically emptied his shirts on the bed. 

“Yes, I do,” Changkyun cackled. “It’s fun to watch you squirm.”

“Evil… Anyway, I called you to tell you that I am on friend duty, well, teddy bear duty. I don’t know what happened yet but it was sad and it made me sad. So… I hope you don’t mind? I’m very happy that you passed, though, and I intend to make it up to you.”

“Buy me coffee tomorrow?” Changkyun teased, working through his shirts, trying to think which one of them screamed _‘I’m smart and sexy, let’s make out’._

“Sounds grand.”

“I am--” _That one. That one did_ . “Going out. I’m gonna _dance._ I am a free man, Joo. Free as a fucking bird.”

“You go, my man. Oh--frozen crepes…? How much do you think I’ll grow in Minhyuk’s friend list if I show up to bed with chocolate crepes in the morning and, hm, coffee?”

“‘Friend list’,” Changkyun scoffed, put his phone on speaker and tossed it on the bed to get dressed. “Oh, my sweet summer child.”

“Don’t mock me…”

Changkyun pouted. He does that a lot. “I’m not… Sorry. But you like him, right? I know you do, you kept telling me about his uneven blink.”

“It’s the cutest thing!” Jooheon screeched softly.

“I hope to see it one day,” Changkyun smiled, shrugged the shirt on and unbuttoned it up to his chest before turning to look at himself in the mirror. Hmm. For superior dance moves, he shrugged it off and found a tank top to wear under it. _Just in case_. “Make the man some crepes, Joo. Whoo his socks off.”

“I’m not like that!” Jooheon hissed and then sighed. “I’m honestly just… He looked so sad, Kyun. He never looks sad. And he’s always brightening my day when we talk so… I sorta wanna do the same for him.”

“That’s why I said socks, not pants… Did he tell you what’s wrong?”

“No… But I didn’t press…”

“Hmm… Still, make the crepes. Leather or jeans?”

“Leather, my man. Always leather.”

“Ah, my club pants. The things those pants have seen…”

“Your terrible dance moves, mostly.”

“How _dare_ you! You dance like a vine. Like, a literal internet meme compilation.”

“How dare _you!_ I’ve seen you do Single Ladies so many times, no amount of bleach with clean the images in my brain!”

“You are very welcome.”

And that is how, at 00:47, Changkyun is on a club dance floor, _not_ dancing Single Ladies. Point made, Jooheon, point made.

Changkyun had walked in, gotten straight to the point (two shots of vodka) and that had given him enough of a buzz to jump into whatever everyone else was doing, and it’s… Fun. It’s really fun. And Changkyun actually just _has_ fun without worrying about what time he has to wake up tomorrow--stupid study schedule-- to show up at the hospital in time. Just really loud music and the buzz that’s very quickly wearing off.

He dances with a boy, who was way too grabby, and a girl who was… also way too grabby.

It’s a hazard, truly.

He thanks the girl for the dance, though, and stumbles out of the small mass of people, hopes his makeup isn’t already ruined. Then again, he wears it so little he can afford the more expensive, lasting things.

It’s a great club, though. The music? Awesome. Honestly the reason he comes here. They’re actually playing songs and not just shitty, drawn out, bass filled remixes with strobe lights thrown in for good effect. 

Otherwise, it’s nice and big. The dance floor is separated by an open door to the main bar, tables and booths against the walls. In another room, there’s another, smaller, faster, louder bar, and an unofficial, smaller dance floor. Changkyun can smell the weed even from here. 

There’s even an _outside_ area. With trees covered in fairy lights. The purple lit, quieter room filled with lounge chairs? _Not yet, Changkyun. Not yet._

The bar isn’t that busy, but they have three people working it so they’re clearly just very well managed. People laugh and talk and it’s such a nice atmosphere, even if sometimes, Changkyun could do without _all_ this loud. 

In a corner, though, Changkyun spots someone who looks like they do _not_ belong here. And it’s not even about how they’re dressed, what with the baggy pink sweater, the light jeans and the Stan Smith tennis shoes, or the fluffy, wavy ash brown hair that falls a little into their eyes--everyone is dressed in black, heavy makeup, loose but sparkly hair. 

It’s mostly because… well… They look like a cat, wet by the rain, hiding in a corner and looking at everyone like they’ll reach out to touch them if they get too close.

Sometimes, someone will pass by and the person in the pink sweater will sort of reach out as if to strike conversation, but then just shrinks back into the corner like they’ve been electrocuted. 

It’s actually kind of cute, even if Changkyun feels bad for the… guy? Yeah, at a guess. He’s really pretty, though. Almost… exactly Changkyun’s actual type, despite him being surprised at seeing this type of boy in a place like this. 

On campus? Sure. But here? Here, the boy looks so lost, like this is his first time out. Hell, maybe it is. So, Changkyun looks to the bartender, orders a beer, and watches the boy in the pink sweater for a while. 

Most of the time, the boy just fiddles with his sleeve, pulls it over his palm and back to his wrist, over his palm and back to his wrist. Sometimes, someone passes by again, or gets closer, and the boy seems to startle, seems to want to say something, but then just frowns and goes back to fiddle with his shirt.

It’s quite the impressive little frown, too, even with the bangs falling over his forehead.

Might as well, right? Changkyun is definitely not going to electrocute him or whatever. 

Changkyun throws back the rest of his beer and smiles at the bartender as he pushes the bottle across the countertop, ruffles his hair, clears his throat, and walks over to the boy’s table with a little bow.

“Good evening.”

The boy jumps. He literally jumps and blinks up at Changkyun with wide eyes. “Goo--Good evening…” the boy says before frowning and looking down. _Nice voice…_ He clears his throat and does some more blinking, looks up again and says, “Do you… Are you… going to sit?”

Wow, that’s cute. Ugh.

“Would you like me to?” Changkyun asks with a smile, tilting his head.

The boy perks up and sort of leans forward a little as he takes a breath and nods. “If you want to… Yes.”

“This is,” Changkyun laughs softly, sitting down at the table. “The politest interaction I’ve ever had in a club.”

The boy frowns. “Am I not supposed to be polite…?”

“You can be whatever you want,” Changkyun shrugs, eyes on the boy. “I just had a boy put his hand on my ass, I’m simply comparing experiences.”

“On your--” the boy blinks and Changkyun notices the slight pink on his eyelids. “Right. People do that… Shouldn’t you ask, though? If you don’t know someone you can’t just simply--” the boy pauses and then blushes and looks down. “I’m sorry, I ramble…”

Changkyun laughs softly, leaning his elbow on the table to prop up his chin with a hand. “That’s alright… You’ve never been out like this before, have you?”

The boy sways a little and glances up. “That obvious, huh…?”

“A little,” Changkyun smiles a little wider. “Don’t worry, though, I won’t just touch your ass without asking, I’m not a _monster_.”

The boy narrows his eyes at Changkyun and watches him for a moment. Eventually, the boy says, “I’m Kihyun. You?”

“Changkyun,” he replies. “Nice to meet you.” His eyes dart down to the table before raising an eyebrow. “Can I buy you a drink, Kihyun?”

“Is it juice?”

Changkyun laughs again. _What_. “You want juice?”

Kihyun blinks, expression quite serious. “I can’t drink alcohol.”

That sounds like… Changkyun frowns and then laughs, getting up. _Yeah, no way_. “Alright, I’ll get you a juice. One condition, though,” Changkyun says, holding up a finger.

Kihyun perks up like a dog that just got shown a treat. “Yeah?” And Changkyun has to make an effort not to smile.

“Will you dance with me?”

“I’ve… Never danced with someone before but--” Kihyun nods. “If you’re fine with that…”

“Everybody has to do everything for the first time, once, so no, I don’t mind. Be right back~” Changkyun sing songs and has to say ‘juice’ a few times before the bartender believes him. Changkyun adds some vodka to his own, but happily slides the juice over to Kihyun once he’s back. “There,” Changkyun teases. “Now you’ve been to a club and a guy bought you a drink.”

“Thank you,” Kihyun huffs, reaches for the drink, quickly latching onto the straw and sucking so much half of the drink goes away in two seconds.

Changkyun has to blink at him before laughing. “Wow, you really want to get to that dancing, huh?”

“What?” Kihyun blinks up. “Oh. No! We can… chat? I--” he clears his throat as if to calm himself down and, when he looks at Changkyun again, he _does_ seem a lot more composed. “We can chat.”

“We can? That’s nice,” Changkyun smiles, takes a much slower sip of his drink. “How come this is your first time? You don’t look fresh out of high school.”

“I’m twenty five,” Kihyun says, eyes on the glass between his hands. “And… I just… I don’t do very well in places like this one. But I’m trying…”

Changkyun pouts a little. Kihyun is really so very cute. And the more Changkyun looks at him, the prettier he gets. It helps that the boy talks in pout and there’s… something about the shape of his eyes. Changkyun really likes his eyes. 

“You’re doing great,” Changkyun smiles, shifting the glass between his hands. “Would you have talked to someone if I hadn’t come up to you?”

Kihyun peeks at Changkyun before looking away. “I’ve been here since the place opened. That… should tell you enough.”

“It’s okay to be shy,” Changkyun shrugs. “I’m shy, too, usually. This is just sort of one of those places or atmospheres where you just--talk to people because that’s why they came here, you know? To dance, to meet new people. So… might as well.”

“I know, that’s why I’m here,” Kihyun says, shrugs and takes another slurp, nearly finishing his drink. “You’d think… at my age I’d know how to do this.”

Changkyun rolls his eyes, a little fondly, he realises. “Don’t compare yourself with others… I’m sure there are a lot of people who would have--well, left a lot earlier. Or wouldn’t even have come. And others would be drunk off their minds and grinding on a dance floor. There’s no use to it, really. And I quite like where you are right now because I get to look at you.”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun and pouts a little, frown soft but there. The boy seems confused, even if just for a moment. But then, probably, he sees the light and blushes. Not on his face, but on his ears-- _red, red, red, red_.

However, he quickly glances away, expression turning a little somber when he says, “Me of all people? You have the worst luck…”

Changkyun scrunches his face, amused. “What? I don’t… feel unlucky. I’m sitting here talking to a cute boy, what’s unlucky about that?”

Kihyun blinks. “Cute…?”

Changkyun looks at the pink ensemble. “Yep, definitely cute.” He leans in a little over the table as if to get a better look and smiles. “And you have really pretty eyes.”

Kihyun seems to deflate a little, expression so vulnerable, smile so small. “No one’s ever… said that to me…”

Changkyun frowns, leans back again. “I knew people were stupid but I didn’t know they were _that_ stupid...” 

Kihyun huffs a laugh and looks down. “You’re people, too, you know…”

“I know, it’s my biggest flaw,” Changkyun laughs. “I could have been some formless space blob circling Alpha Centauri, but noooo.”

Kihyun smiles and when he does, even though it’s just a line of lips, his eyes smile, too. It’s so terribly endearing. “The life.”

“Right? No--No _taxes_. I say, having never done my taxes in my life.”

“I can do taxes.”

“Me, in four years, doing double bypass surgery on the reg but I can’t do my taxes,” Changkyun scoffs, smiles at him. “Save me from accidental tax fraud, pretty stranger.”

Kihyun giggles a little and sways. “I… I--” he takes a breath and then blinks, glances at Changkyun, eyes a little wide. “Bypass…? You’ll be a doctor?”

“Ye, you like--” Changkyun falls into Med Student mode. “It’s like super common but you just, like. There’s a block? And you work around it, like--That wasn’t the question,” Changkyun giggles. Stupid vodka. “Yeah, I’m gonna be a doctor. If all goes well! Which it is, that’s why I’m here.”

“If all goes well…” Kihyun repeats in a mumble, eyes moving away.

“Those exams might kill me,” Changkyun says, very seriously. It’s a serious matter. “Doctors are like stallions, you gotta fuckin--fucking _break_ them first,” Changkyun giggles again.

Kihyun seems to startle. “Why--Why would anyone do that…?”

“It’s,” Changkyun pouts. “A metaphor. You’re so cute.” And Changkyun is so tipsy, _oh lord_.

“Oh…” Kihyun nods, frowns, talks in a pout when he says, “Right. Metaphor. I know what that is…” He blinks. “Obviously.”

“I like to think,” Changkyunt teases. “That I’m the reason you’re so flustered. It boosts my ego.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and glances at Changkyun. “You… It’s the place and… You--” Kihyun freezes when someone passes by, Changkyun feeling the reek of perfume.

“Yo,” Changkyun says, in the most sincere way he’s ever said ‘yo’ in his life. He reaches out, pokes at Kihyun’s hand in the table. “Eyes on me, before the ego deflates again.”

Kihyun’s eyes _snap_ to Changkyun and they’re a bit dark. Darker than before. But when Kihyun smiles they go back to normal. “Sorry… And, uhm, doctors are cool. It’s a big responsibility but someone has to do it, right?”

“Bypasses don’t surge themselves.” Changkyun frowns. “Surge isn’t a verb. Well, it _is_ , but not… like that. Whoops.”

“It can also be a noun,” Kihyun says with a smile that _could_ be teasing.

“Mmm, tell me more,” Changkyun leans forward again, trying to find the straw and taking a small sip. “Speak figures of speech to me, baby.”

Kihyun’s ears go a little pink but he blinks and says, “Alliteration, anaphora, assonance… I like euphemisms. Oh, and hyperboles are fun but euphemisms are a favourite.”

“I liiiiiiiiiike oxymorons,” Changkyun says. “Because it sounds like a dumb ox.”

“Are cute and sexy contradictory?”

“Nope, I’m looking at it.”

“Well, maybe I’m an oxymoron.”

“Maybe,” Changkyun smiles, tongue between his teeth. “Hey,” Changkyun says, takes the straw out of his drink and throws most of it back down his throat, blinking a bit fast-- _yikes, vodka_ \--before looking at Kihyun. “Finish that, oxymoron, I wanna dance.”

When he looks, though, Kihyun’s glass is empty. Jesus. Changkyun really wasn’t paying attention to that at all. 

“Right, one second--” Changkyun laughs, holding up a finger as he finishes his own drink. “God, was that--a double? Jesus, anyway,” Changkyun laughs, standing up and holding out a hand, wiggles his fingers. “Come on, gorgeous.”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun’s hand and then up at his face and, as he reaches up, fingertips brushing lightly over Changkyun’s, he says, “If someone had read your tarot this week, you’d get the Wheel Of Fortune Reversed and the Knight Of Wands Reversed.”

_What on earth…_

Changkyun tilts his head, frowning. “I don’t… even know you, why would you say that?”

Kihyun takes Changkyun’s hand and stands up, smiling a little mischievously when he looks at Changkyun and says, “I _am_ bad luck.”

Changkyun tugs him a little closer without moving, and notes that they’re the same height. He looked smaller sitting down. “Let me decide that, oxymoron.”

Kihyun turns his head away as if to look away, but he keeps his eyes on Changkyun, gives him a testy, mischievous look. “Alright…”

What an odd boy. Still, Changkyun tugs him along to the bigger dance floor, in between the crowd that parts for them quite instinctually, to an empty spot where Changkyun doesn’t turn around, just puts Kihyun’s hands on his hips as he starts moving them to the beat of the song playing.

The lights change smoothly and people keep dancing. The music changes from a Lil Nas X song to an Avicii remix and while Changkyun can’t see what Kihyun is doing, he can still feel his hands on his hips.

When someone jumps a little closer to Changkyun, though, he needs to take a step back. He’s vaguely aware of Kihyun’s chest against his back and a breath against the back of his neck. It makes Changkyun want to shiver. Instead, he smiles, puts his hand over one of Kihyun’s and rolling a shoulder to have his shirt fall a little down his arm. He got those back tattoos and he’s going to show them off, dammit, and he knows they’ll be peeking out of the tank top.

He feels Kihyun’s fingers grip a little at his hips and, when he turns around, Kihyun is right in his face, eyes a little wide and shiny, cheeks pink, lips just a breath away. So, Changkyun smiles like a reassurance, throws an arm over Kihyun’s shoulders as he keeps moving to the beat, pressing himself a little against the boy.

 _Clubbing, right? Good stuff_.

Changkyun leans in, asks in Kihyun’s ear; “You still okay?” and earns a faint nod back.

“Yeah… You just… smell really nice, is all.”

Changkyun narrows his eyes playfully, turns to smell at Kihyun’s neck, nose brushing his skin before leaning back. Wow, he smells… really sweet. “You smell like candy,” Changkyun says, a little surprised. 

_It’s nice, though._ _What perfume is this?_ Humans don’t just _smell like this_.

Kihyun smiles small. “Candy?” he asks and then laughs, more of a giggle, head ducking and forehead bumping lightly against Changkyun’s. “Do you like candy?”

Changkyun smiles. Kihyun is… interesting, admittedly. Definitely not what Changkyun had expected for his random night out, to try and kiss pretty people. And Kihyun most certainly is just that.

“I love candy,” Changkyun says, lifting his chin just enough to press his lips to Kihyun’s for a second, smirking and turning around again, leaning against him, head on Kihyun’s shoulder.

“I--” Kihyun starts but it dies in a sigh that Changkyun feels on his neck, goosebumps trailing down his skin. It doesn’t take long for him to feel Kihyun’s nose right above that spot, and then lips that rub ever so softly it barely counts as a touch.

Changkyun turns his face, hand up to reach into Kihyun’s hair. He noses at Kihyun’s cheek, before kissing at his jaw, pushing his hips back into Kihyun’s. 

For a split moment, Changkyun hears Kihyun’s breath leave him and feels a tight grip keeping him close as Kihyun leans into him. But then, just as Changkyun’s brain registers the possessiveness and the closeness, he’s being _softly_ but surely pushed away.

“Sorry,” Kihyun says, keeps Changkyun at arms length, eyes cast down. 

Changkyun turns properly,swallows around a tight feeling in his throat, his stomach. Why the _fuck_ did that turn him on so much? 

“I--” Kihyun starts, notices his grip on Changkyun’s shirt, how it twists with Changkyun now facing him, and lets go. “You’re… too nice, I can’t…” Kihyun frowns a little and looks up. “Thank you for the drink,” he says before turning around, stopping, turning back and leaning in just a little to peck Changkyun’s lips, look at him and then rush off, disappearing into the crowd.

_What the fuck?_

Changkyun feels himself deflate, a slight pang of... Sadness? Rejection? He’s not sure, but it applies unneeded pressure somewhere in his chest and he just pouts, eyes on where Kihyun disappeared.

“Did I do something wrong..?” Changkyun mumbles to himself, shoulders slumping. He frowns, harshly, as a stranger grinds up behind him before he just hurries out of the mass of people. 

Well, there goes that idea.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Changkyun wakes up with a headache. It’s to be expected; he was a bit reckless and didn’t drink enough water, and as young as he is, bodies still need water. He reaches a hand out from under his covers, feels for the drawer by his bedside table and squints at the aspirin he quickly takes.

He fumbles for his phone, eyes burning at the bright screen. It’s already 11? Shit. He drops the phone again with a groan. 

“Those were my last pills,” he complains to no one in particular. Life just be like that, sometimes. 

Outside, it’s cloudy, sky so dark it’s amazing it’s not raining yet. At least the weather is kind; Changkyun loves rainy days. 

He is great at self-discipline. There’s no way he’d have made it so far into medical school without it, so he drags himself into a shower, dresses himself like an adult, and eats something healthy. 

He taps at his phone, that he actually remembered to charge through the night. _Kudos to drunk me._

How were the crepes  
Jooheon  
:’D  
Great  
It was  
Great  
He ate them all  
SOBS  
THEY SMELLED SO GOOD  
NOT EVEN 1 LEFT KYUN  
Criminal offense  
I’d break up with him already  
Jooheon  
WE’RE NOT DATING  
All the single ladies~~~  
Ever coming home?  
Asking cos I’m still snuggleless but now also hungover  
Jooheon  
Yes just a little past lunch time but I’m bringing taco bell  
Can hungover you deal with taco bell?  
Mmmm bring me dat cheese I beg you

Changkyun sighs, sits himself on the couch with his cereal and a single banana.

Need anything from the convenience store?  
I need more ibuprofen  
Jooheon  
Jajangmyeon instant noodles?  
The ones from Samyang  
NOT THE SPICY ONES  
The normal ones  
Get a pack of 5  
:< but I like the spicy ones  
Jooheon  
Did you even get laid?  
I mean I ask but I didn’t so what do I know  
Got weirdly rejected and it kinda ruined the mood  
Didn’t even kiss anyone blegh  
Properly kiss I mean  
Jooheon  
Oh no  
Was he pretty?  
:< ye  
He was all PINK, too  
WHO WEARS PINK TO A CLUB  
Jooheon  
Alright  
Get the spicy ones  
I feel your sympathies loud and clear  
God bless

Changkyun doesn’t look like shit when he leaves the house, which helps with not _feeling_ like shit. It’s all psychological, _you see._ Or so Changkyun tells himself. He really needs more than cereal and a banana...

He has to go a bit out of his way for the Spicy _Noods_ , but it’s worth it, and bus rides are generally bearable. No screaming babies and light rain? Practically a rock ballad music video.

Changkyun waves to the bus driver who looks happy about it, and walks into the store, headed towards the small pharmacy section like he’s honing in to a signal. He hears yapping, like a really small dog, and frowns, turning around when what looks like the animal equivalent of a tater tot runs right at him.

_Is that a baby Chow?_

“Oh my god,” Changkyun coos, bending down to put both hands on the _fluffy liddle thing, oh god_. “You’re so cute!” he squeaks and leans in, lets the little dog lick his face before pressing it into its fur. 

The small pleasures of life, really.

“Nugget!” someone whispers harshly, someone who turns into the same aisle as Changkyun, white hoodie, hood over his head, light pants Changkyun _almost_ recognizes, he thinks, Stan Smith tennis, sunglasses at the tip of his nose as he stares wide eyed at Changkyun.

“Stan Smiths…?” Changkyun mumbles, and the little dog yaps again-- _so fucking cute, jesus fucking christ_ \--before Changkyun properly looks. _No way._ “Kihyun?!”

Kihyun, _obviously,_ pushes the sunglasses up to cover his eyes and leans down to pick up the walking marshmallow. “Wrong number, try again,” he says, turns around to _rush_ into another aisle.

Seriously, what the _fuck_.

Changkyun gapes for a second, before just filling with utter, pure, unadulterated indignation.

He turns on his heel and rushes into the other aisle from the other direction and points at Kihyun when he sees him power walking with a fluffy marshmallow under his arm.

“You!”

Kihyun stops, freezes more like, and _dares_ to look behind him, like Changkyun just pointed at someone else. The dog just opens its mouth a little and sticks its tongue out in small pants, like it’s smiling, amused.

“What do you mean I’m too _nice_ ?!” Changkyun huffs, both hands to his hips. “And yes, _you_.”

Kihyun turns to Changkyun and frowns, turns to one of the shelves and just pretends to be looking through it as he lowers the dog, lifts his shirt and fits the fluffy thing into it, its head poking out under Kihyun’s chin as Kihyun holds it close.

“Oh look,” Kihyun says in _English,_ “Oreos.”

Changkyun blinks slowly, unimpressed. “Next time,” Changkyun says, _in English because fuck you too_. “Just reject someone properly, don’t give stupid ass excuses.” Changkyun huffs again. Is he pissy? A little. Hungover? A lot.

The sunglasses on Kihyun’s nose slip down again when he leans down to pick up a pack of Oreos. “I didn’t,” Kihyun mumbles, frowns at the pack and puts it back.

Changkyun frowns. Why is he curious? Why does he care? Kihyun literally just ran away from him in a convenience store.

“Didn’t what?” Changkyun asks, eyes narrowed, back to his mother tongue.

“Reject you,” Kihyun replies, glances over and then away as he turns around and walks to the end of the aisle, towards the fridges. Changkyun notes, though, that Kihyun doesn’t just pick up a pack of juice, he _picks it up and fits it into his mouth,_ turning around back into the aisle from before with a long step.

Changkyun gets a flash of dejavu as he stares at the spot where Kihyun had disappeared, brain doing a loud rendition of; _hold the fuck up_.

Changkyun backs away and steps into the next aisle, sees Kihyun at the end of it. He keeps walking, and so does Changkyun. Along the way, though, Kihyun grabs the pack of juice he was carrying in his mouth and places it on one of the shelves, obviously at the wrong place.

That’s not right. Like, morally. What the fuck.

“Feels like one!” Changkyun calls across the aisle. An old lady startles a little in front of the baking soda.

Kihyun stops in front of the noodles-- _shit, noodles, Changkyun needs those_ \--and stares at them. “Not everything is about you,” Kihyun says, mumbles, and then pouts as he lifts the dog up a little.

“I wasn’t--” Changkyun says, frowns harshly and walks to the noodles, grabs one of the spiciest packs. He needs it. “I just don’t understand what happened, okay? I hate not understanding shit, so sue me.”

Kihyun glances up, shyly almost, at him and then away at the packs of noodles. “I saved your life, sort of. You should be thanking me, really.”

Changkyun knows he’s making a face, can feel the way he frowns, mouth open. “Why do you talk like you were going to drag me off and murder me or something?”

“Maybe I was,” Kihyun mumbles, pouts at the noodles. “Maybe I wasn’t. Maybe I saved you from a gruesome fate because I’m bad luck itself.” He looks at the pack of noodles Changkyun picked up. “Are those tasty?”

Changkyun blinks, processing. Slowly. There’s a bit of buffering, really. “Er.” He looks at the noodles. The package has fire all over it. “It burns a lot? It’s nice.”

“Like… the sun?” Kihyun asks, brings a hand up to take off his sunglasses. “Or like fire?”

Changkyun frowns. “Wha--Have you never had spicy food before? You’re Korean.”

Kihyun blinks up and then away. “Oh… Like that, right--Uhm, yes. I’ve had spicy, uhm, food, before.”

“You confuse,” Changkyun says, reaching for Jooheon’s weak-ass noodles. “The shit out of me.”

“Then why are you still talking to me?” Kihyun asks, reaches for the same type of noodles Changkyun just picked up and stares at it.

“No idea,” Changkyun mumbles, frowning. “You’re not going to explain, are you?”

Kihyun puts the noodles back and flips his sunglasses on again. “Nope!” he chirps, turns to walk past Changkyun. _What._ Kihyun says, “See you tomorrow,” at the cashier and Changkyun hears the ding of the door.

The wheels and gears in Changkyun’s head are having a field day and he glances around, stomps his way back to the juice pack Kihyun had left there. _Litterer! And--sort of shoplifter! Stupid, pretty--_

Changkyun picks it up and blinks, heart hammering a little harshly against his chest for a second.

“Oh, fuck,” he breathes.

The juice pack is… empty. And there are four holes in it. Four, very specific holes. He’s seen it in textbooks, but never on a person. It’s too rare these days. But…

“He’s a fucking vampire.”

**1 MONTH LATER**

It’s tiring.

What exactly, some might ask?

Everything.

It’s waking up and checking the weather forecast for the day. It’s staying home most of the time, which Kihyun doesn’t really mind but Nugget has to go out for walkies. It’s being hungry almost all the time. It’s surviving on juice but knowing that won’t fill his cheeks. It’s aging, because there are no perks to this, to being this, and feeling like a parasite. It’s being alone without being able to hear someone say ‘I know what it’s like’. And then, even if he could find someone like him (which is rare) is knowing they probably won’t like him very much simply because he doesn’t ‘fit in’.

Why doesn’t Kihyun fit in?

Well…

For the exact same reason he lives off juice packs and blood bags Minhyuk sneaks out of the hospital. Because Kihyun is a _terrible vampire._

It’s not even about the biting, which… _Hell,_ such a rude thing to ask of someone, ‘hey, mind if I bite you for a bit? Might also kill you in the process, but it’ll be fine--smiley face’. Nevermind that it’s also such a personal, intimate thing… It’s mindblowing how some vampires just jump from person to person like monkeys jump from branch to branch, like the branches don’t have feelings and… _personal bubbles._

It’s _not_ about the biting. Kihyun could… get past it, if he had to--which is complicated.

It’s about that tiny voice, the one at the back of his head, that keeps telling him ‘don’t stop’ whenever he’s near someone and hasn’t eaten in days. It’s that tiny voice that whispers ‘him’ or ‘her’ when he walks on the street and passes people by. It’s that tiny voice that almost led him to lose himself a little and nibble on some random boy’s neck he met at a bar, disco or whatever the hell that place was, barely a month ago.

So, yes. Some people might find this vampire thing fascinating. Some vampires actually take it quite to the point; _uuuuuh, apex predator!_ But Kihyun just feels like a parasite on Earth, living until the day he dies.

It’s why he got Nugget. Because at least he’s sheltering a baby dog, helping it survive (while also reminding himself that _friends_ are not _food)_. He feels like less of a parasite if his main goal is to keep Nugget alive.

Why Nugget?

Well…

Because nuggets look like FX for fiery explosions and Kihyun thinks that’s pretty cool. Also, because he’s always wanted to try nuggets and baby Nugget looks like one, all chubby and chonky and-- _yummy--No!_

So, rule number one?

Friends are not food.

Rule number two?

Don’t get close to people.

Which means life is not only tiring but also boring. Because Kihyun doesn’t know anyone, literally anyone, that isn’t Lee Minhyuk, his childhood friend.

Funny story, that one. Kihyun was, maybe, nine years old? It was great. He was on a hunt, his first hunt--it was stalking, really, no one would call that hunting--and there was an air headed boy throwing stones in the river. And Kihyun was grand and _powerful_ and--not really, he was fucking terrified. His hands were shaking but he knew he had to do it.

So, he did it.

And failed. _Miserably._

It all sort of ended up with Minhyuk shoving his finger into Kihyun’s mouth and Kihyun just crying and slurping. And now? Well, they’re best friends. Or… something close to that.

Kind of cute, thinking back. Unfortunately, they’re older now and… And Kihyun can’t keep depending on Minhyuk.

But it’s another day, another month and Kihyun _needs_ to eat. Especially when he gets up in the morning and realizes Nugget smells like the human equivalent of fried chicken.

And this is how, not even three hours later, Kihyun ends up in front of Minhyuk’s door, ringing the doorbell and hoping he doesn’t look too desperate. He probably does. He walked here in his hamster onesie.

Then again, they live next to each other, literally one building apart. The only difference is, well, Minhyuk has a whole apartment for himself and Kihyun has a… storage room turned house.

“Minhyuuuuuk,” Kihyun whines softly, rings the doorbell again and presses his forehead against the door, the hamster ears of his onesie flapping when he shifts his head. “Opeeen theee dooooor…”

Minhyuk has to hold out a hand to steady Kihyun once he does open the door. “Ki?” Minhyuk laughs, clearly amused, glancing over his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Kihyun pouts but leans back--dammit, Minhyuk smells good, too--scrunches his nose and glances away. “I need a favour…”

Minhyuk looks at him, far too knowingly. “You didn’t go hunting a month ago when you said you would, did you?”

“I did,” Kihyun mumbles. “I did go… I just… Didn’t…” Kihyun frowns and scrunches his nose even more. “Hunt anything in particular…” _It’s not even ‘hunting’, it’s stalking._

Minhyuk sighs and--

“Who is it?” a voice calls from the living room and Kihyun startles. He was so focused on his problem he totally didn’t hear them, didn’t catch their scent because _someone exaggerated the perfume today!_

“A neighbour, just a sec!” Minhyuk calls back and bites at his bottom lip.

Kihyun’s eyes dart to Minhyuk, wide. “I… can come back later…” Kihyun says as he gives a step back.

Minhyuk frowns, shakes his head and sighs. “I can… call the hospital, think of something, get you something to drink. But I--” Minhyuk seems to fret, pouting as he glances back to the living room and back to Kihyun. “I kinda want you to meet him…”

“Him?” Kihyun asks, freezing. He can’t meet anyone. He hasn’t--in a month! “Min, now is not a good time to--”

Minhyuk nods, “Right, of course, I’ll call you when--”

“Kihyun?!”

_Oh, fuck off, world!_

Kihyun reaches up and tugs at the hood of his onesie, pulls it down over his face. “Whomst?”

“What,” Minhyuk blinks and Kihyun can hear Changkyun rushing closer, yanking him inside by the wrist and closing the door.

“You’re not running away again, you asshole.”

“Actually, I--” Kihyun steps back, keeps the hood of his onesie in front of his eyes-- _if you don’t see him, he doesn’t exist, not really, it’s aaaaaaall in your head._ “My fish--dog--pet--I gotta--”

“How do you know him?” he hears Minhyuk ask.

“He’s club guy!”

“ _No_ ,” Minhyuk gapes. “Oh my god that makes so much sense now…”

Kihyun reaches back for something and feels a table. _A table?_ Ah, right. Minhyuk has a small dresser by the entrance. “I’m… Where’s the door?”

“Don’t,” he hears Changkyun say.

“Kyun,” Minhyuk urges. “It’s not that simple--”

“I know he’s a vampire,” Changkyun says, a little under his breath. “Calm down.”

Kihyun lets go of his hood and it snaps up. He gapes. “A vampire?! _Where?”_ He looks to Minhyuk, eyes wide.

Changkyun narrows his at him. “You never paid for that juice.”

_Ugh._

“I never took that juice,” Kihyun mumbles, feels for the dresser and then glances at the door. _Run boy run! This world is not made for you!_

“This is stupid,” Changkyun sighs. “Min, can I talk to him for a sec?”

Minhyuk frowns. “Don’t ask me, he’s right there.”

“A vampire?” Changkyun jokes, gapes. “Where?”

Minhyuk scoffs and puts both hands up, walking away. “Your funeral.”

_Run boy run! They’re trying to catch you! Run boy run! Running is a victory! Run boy run! Beauty lays behind the hills!_

“You know,” Changkyun says, hands on his hips. “You could have just told me.”

Kihyun blinks slowly at the door. “Told you what?”

“That you’re a vampire,” Changkyun rolls his eyes. 

“Why, do you go around telling people you’re a human?”

Changkyun blinks slowly. “No, but I also don’t regularly tell someone they’re ‘too nice’ to make out with. It’s a funny world, Kihyun.”

 _Make out…_ Right. Like that wasn’t Kihyun’s first kiss at all.

“I wasn’t trying to _make out._ ” Kihyun looks at Changkyun and frowns. “I was trying to eat. In the… non… sexual usage of the word… ‘eat’.”

“Yeah, I get that now,” Changkyun scoffs. “Look, it’s not like I’m not… thankful you didn’t drag me into an alleyway and suck all the blood out of my body or whatever, but...”

Kihyun swallows, throat a little dry. He presses himself back against the dresser and nods. “Right… Good. So, since that’s settled… Can I go?”

“The door isn’t locked,” Changkyun mumbles.

Kihyun nods and slowly side steps to the door. One foot and then the other, one foot and then the other. Repetition, repetition, _that’s right, good boy._ “I’m, uh, sorry about… all of that. But it’s fine, you’re really pretty so you can totally just--” Kihyun fumbles with the lock. “You know… don’t take it personally, really…”

“Right,” Changkyun says, huffs a small laugh. “I’m--” he laughs again, raises his hands and takes a small step back. “If you’re not interested, I’m not going to push you.”

Kihyun pauses. He frowns and looks at Changkyun, frown growing even more by the second. “Which part… of ‘vampire’ doesn’t get through…”

“You’re--” Changkyun laughs. “In a hamster onesie, I’m finding it a little difficult.”

Kihyun blinks, actually offended right now. He looks down at his onesie and then up. “It’s _cute._ ”

“I know,” Changkyun deadpans. A bad deadpan, at that. “You’re adorable, it’s messing me up.”

_You’re messing me up!_

“Ugh,” Kihyun turns around and opens the door. “Great seeing you again, bye bye,” Kihyun says, steps outside and makes to close the door, but Changkyun’s foot stops it.

“Minhyuk is dating my best friend. I’m definitely going to end up seeing you again. Just saying.”

Kihyun freezes again. His brain fumbles, _everything just seems to fumble._ And then he looks into the house and says, loud, “Min! We’re not friends anymore! Bye bye!”

A look of actual hurt flashes across Changkyun’s face, before he purses his lips and looks down, lifting a hand for a little wave and turning around, leaving Kihyun at the door.

Kihyun rushes home. Not in a ‘gotta get home way’, really, it’s more of a ‘gotta pee right now’ way. He rushes home, the cubicle he calls a house, slams the door and ignores Nugget who pads closer to greet him.

_Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look._

Kihyun opens the small fridge, brings out a pack of juice and opens it. He reaches up and shoves his thumb into his mouth, whimpers a little when it grazes one of his fangs that stretches out in pure instinct, and then pulls out, lets the blood pour into the juice.

“Come on, come on…”

It doesn’t need to be much. Just a little. Just a lie he’ll feed his body, like he does most of the time. So, once he thinks it’s enough, Kihyun grabs a straw from his new pack of straws and shoves it into the juice.

He turns around, juice in hand and takes a sip, feels himself melt down to the floor. _Thank god…_ It works. It helps. And when Nugget pads closer, head tilting from side to side like the cutest little thing, Kihyun lets it sit between his legs. Because it’s okay.

It’s okay.

**2 DAYS LATER**

_It’s not okay._

Kihyun needs to drink actual blood _soon_ or… or something!

So, only two days later, he texts Minhyuk and agrees to see him at the hospital. Kihyun only needs one pack of blood. One little bag will keep him up and running for the rest of the month if he mixes it with his juice.

Just.

One.

Bag.

_And--What the fuck is this idiot doing here?_

“Why is he here?” Kihyun asks, eyes going between Minhyuk and Changkyun, hand extended when Minhyuk passes him the bag with not only one, not two but _three_ blood bags inside. _Minhyuk, we’ll be friends forever._

“He’s ‘the best the school has to offer’,” Minhyuk scoffs. “So, he’s allowed to do some early interning.”

“Ah.”

Changkyun smiles, tilts his head from one side to the other. “You look like shit.”

_Offended! Utterly, drastically, dramatically offended!_

“I haven’t eaten in a month,” Kihyun deadpans. “Have you tried that recently?” He asks, turns a little and reaches into his pocket to bring out a coin that he rushes to push into the vending machine nearby.

_Juice. Juice. Juice… Strawberry._

One pack of strawberry juice falls down and Kihyun fumbles as he tries to bring it out. It’s no biggie, really, it’s fine. It’s _fine._

It’s fine.

He pours a bit of blood--AB+? _Nice--_ into the juice and then closes the blood bag, takes the juice and _sluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurps._

Kihyun melts down against the nearest wall, hand holding the plastic bag coming up to his forehead. “Oh my gooooood… I’m alive…”

“Wow,” Changkyun says, bending down and poking at Kihyun’s cheek. “I’ve never seen that in real life,” Changkyun mumbles, glances back to Minhyuk. “I cannot believe you kept a vampire from me. For weeks!”

Minhyuk laughs. “There’s a reason, Changkyun. You look way too excited.”

Kihyun keeps his eyes down and drinks the rest of his juice slowly, this time actually trying to savor it. He can feel himself a little stronger.

“Are you less cranky now?” Changkyun asks. And when Kihyun looks up, Minhyuk is just gone. What. _Maybe he’s the vampire..._

Kihyun glances at Changkyun and then at the juice. “I’m…” _Feeling lethargic._ “Why are you still talking to me…?” Kihyun asks, this time without bite. He’s actually curious.

“Because I quite liked talking to you,” Changkyun shrugs. “Before we danced and I ruined everything with my blatant edibility.” 

Kihyun snorts and looks down. “It’s… not going to work. This isn’t Twilight. It’s… quite the downgrade, actually. Which should tell you how, well, sucky, both literally and not literally, it is.”

Changkyun snorts as well. “I know, Kihyun, I’m quite literally specialising in Vampire Biology once I get my degree.”

“I don’t have a Volvo…”

Changkyun rolls his eyes. “Neither do I.”

“Bella had a stupid van, what do you _even mean--”_ Kihyun laughs and shakes his head.

“I love that you immediately jump to Young Adult romance. Good to know you wanna watch me sleep.”

“I can’t be Alice either.”

“You like these movies way too much, dude.”

“I’m a writer. And, as a fellow writer, I had to… _know_ what everyone was talking about. Sorry to disappoint, werewolves aren’t real.”

“You’re a writer?” Changkyun asks, and Kihyun realises he’s just sitting next to him, now.

“Freelance,” Kihyun mumbles, eyes on Changkyun’s face. _He’s pretty._ Which doesn’t help.

“Makes sense, so you can stay at home,” Changkyun nods, leans his head against the wall. “Never liked Edward, you know. Bit too stuck up for my tastes.”

“Also a sociopath.”

“Bit too sociopath for my tastes,” Changkyun scoffs. “See? No Volvo, but you’re also not a sociopath. It’s a good exchange.”

Kihyun raises an eyebrow. “Does that imply that every sociopath out there drives a Volvo?”

“Obviously,” Changkyun says quite seriously. “You’d have to be. That’s the ugliest car I’ve ever seen.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and looks down. He hates this so much. _So much!!!_ Because it’s easy. It would be better if Changkyun wasn’t this nice. “I don’t even have a license… I live in a cubicle and… the only thing I’m good at is not eating my dog, which is a terrible thing to say… _God…”_

Changkyun hums. “It’s a really cute dog…”

“It is,” Kihyun pouts, eyes watering a little. He’s getting whiplash, it happens. Especially after he goes a long time without drinking any blood. “I love it… I do. So much. But sometimes… I can’t look at it.”

“Vampires can’t survive on animal blood,” Changkyun mumbles. “But they never say in the books whether they still smell good to drink.”

Kihyun shrugs. He loves that damn dog so much, he’s actually crying right now. “Well,” he sniffles. “It’s… It depends. When I’m hungry even homeless people smell like a banquet looks to you… Even better, actually, because… You shower a lot so… your scent washes away...”

“Knew soap would save my life one day,” Changkyun smiles softly, head lolling against the wall as he looks over. “Are you okay..?”

“I am now.”

“You’ve never danced,” Changkyun says. “You’ve never drank from anyone either?”

“Never kissed anyone either.”

Changkyun blinks, blinks some more before his eyes widen and he brings a hand to his mouth. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

Kihyun frowns and looks at him. “Why…? Was it bad…?”

“No!” Changkyun quickly defends. “It wasn’t… a lot,” he laughs. “But… Shit, I was your first kiss and I don’t even know you…”

Kihyun watches Changkyun’s face for a moment and wonders, for a split second, about what it would be like if he wasn’t this; a parasite. Still, it’s only a split second. And in the next, Kihyun sighs and gets up as he says, “Neither should you know me. At all.”

Changkyun frowns, just looks concerned. “I don’t… think you should be isolating yourself like this…”

“Are you a Psychologist, too?”

“No, I just,” Changkyun gets up, too. “You’re nice. You shouldn’t have to live like you’re a grenade about to go off at any second.”

“But I am,” Kihyun says. He glances down at the juice in his hand. “Especially because I can’t do what others do. I’m a parasite and I can’t even be a proper parasite.”

“A parasite,” Changkyun repeats, sighs. “Don’t… talk about yourself like that,” he mumbles. “It’s a genetic mutation, you’re about as much of a parasite as human beings who eat meat are...”

“Plants feel pain, too, you know.”

Changkyun laughs, literally snorts a small laugh. “Yes, thank you, for further proving my point against you.”

Kihyun pouts and mumbles, “Don’t you hear them screaming in the blender? ‘Cause I do. Apples are _loud.”_

“See? Vegans are just the vampires of the planet,” Changkyun shrugs, smiling. “So… Even if you don’t wanna talk to me anymore, or lean into all this _delicious flirting_ ,” Changkyun jokes, “That I’ve been throwing at you, just… do me a favour and don’t call yourself a parasite.”

Kihyun pouts some more. _He’s too nice._ And too pretty. And also kind of hot in a brain freezing way, really. But… “I’m sorry…”

“Ah, s’okay,” Changkyun says, smiling with a small shrug. “But hey, if you need a friend, I can get blood bags, too. And I’ve watched _all_ the Twilight movies, shamefully, so we already have a whole night of talking ready to go. Might even read the books if you wear that onesie of yours again.”

It sounds so nice. It really does. But what if--“It gets out of hand and I do something I don’t want to? It’s… Insane how quickly I go between wanting to do it and stopping myself because I just can’t do it. I just… I’m sorry. You’re really, really nice… And I’d… I’d love to but…” Kihyun smiles a little. “It’s alright. It’s fine.”

Changkyun frowns. “What’s alright? I don’t--” Changkyun laughs softly, tilts his head. “Know what you’re consoling me for..?”

“Thinking I was normal and then realizing I’m not.”

“You went to a club wearing a pastel pink sweater and asked me for juice. I never thought you were normal.”

“Wha--What’s wrong with wearing pastel pink to a club…?” Kihyun asks, eyes a little wide.

“Nothing,” Changkyun laughs softly. “And there’s nothing wrong with being a vampire either. It’s not… usual, but it’s just--” Changkyun shrugs. “Sometimes life just be like that.”

Kihyun nods and sniffles as he turns towards the doors. “Well, maybe in another life then…”

Maybe in another life, Kihyun can allow himself to like a boy he finds pretty and overall nice. Maybe in another life, Kihyun doesn’t have to worry about wanting to sink his teeth into a friend, sometimes.

Maybe in another life. And that’s fine. It’s fine that it’s not this one. Minhyuk is all Kihyun needs. Mostly because Minhyuk is fine with not seeing Kihyun for long periods of time and knows there’s very little he can count on.

It’s fine.

But Kihyun stills gets home and cuddles Nugget while he cries a little.

 _It was a really nice boy with a pretty face._ And Kihyun likes pretty things.

It’s fine...

_It’s not fine..._

**4 MONTHS LATER**

Changkyun is on his way out, but Minhyuk is still running around like a headless chicken with a stethoscope. It’s not a particularly busy day for anyone else, but Minhyuk has to cover for a sick colleague and volunteered a double shift. Because that’s Minhyuk for you. Changkyun can see why Jooheon loves the shit out of this man, and Changkyun approves. He’s not Jooheon’s father, but he gives his blessing in whatever capacity that is. 

Especially when Minhyuk stops Changkyun at the door, satchel in hand.

“Hey,” Minhyuk says, smiling even though he looks tired already. “I need a favour. Can you take this to Kihyun?”

Changkyun looks down at the satchel, blinks. Oh. “Er, he doesn’t… like me much, you know.”

Minhyuk laughs, pushes the satchel against Changkyun’s chest. “Right. Please? I need to--” he points a thumb over his shoulder. “I couldn’t get a lot and it took some time, so he’s probably near starving already. Please, please, please?”

“You had me at the first please,” Changkyun mumbles, slinging the satchel over his shoulder and wincing at the _slosh_. “Good luck tonight.”

“Thanks,” Minhyuk says, entire expression sincere, before he turns and rushes off.

 _Off to UberEats for a vampire, I guess_. A really cute vampire who Changkyun hasn’t had to make an effort to avoid, but had to make an effort not to inquire after. It’s obvious Kihyun doesn’t treat himself very well, and yet is so selfless. Changkyun has never heard of a vampire that didn’t feed off of humans, and he knows for a fact blood like the ones in the satchel is about as filling as living off nutrient pills and tofu compared to steak and potatoes or whatever. 

But still, the boy calls himself a parasite. _Honestly_.

It’s not far to Minhyuk’s building--for convenience, obviously--and Minhyuk had told him Kihyun lives just down the hall, in the room without a number on the door. So, Changkyun knocks on said door and hopes Kihyun doesn’t think he’s some weird ass stalker and immediately shuts the door in his face.

He waits. And there's not a sound, nothing, only the background noise of the cars outside.

 _Near starving_ , Minhyuk had said, so Changkyun can’t help but worry, just a little. 

“Kihyun?” Changkyun calls out, knocks again. “I brought blood from Min, open up.”

Not a sound. 

But then the door opens and there's a hand wiggling itself out and outstretched. Just a hand, though.

Changkyun rolls his eyes and opens the satchel, sees two bags. “I have two,” he says, as he smacks just the one into Kihyun’s hand.

"Now you only have one," Kihyun says in a groggy voice.

“Drink that one and then open the damn door,” Changkyun laughs. “This is just rude.”

"I don't drink them all in one go, I mix them with juice so they'll last longer…"

“Yes, well. Still keeping it hostage.”

The hovering hand with the blood bag clutched between its fingers withdraws to its shell. Changkyun hears noise, something like the sound of a fridge. The door is still open but only just a little. And when he looks down he sees a smiley marshmallow looking up at him, tongue out. It’s slightly bigger than before.

“Hey, buddy,” Changkyun laughs softly, bending down to scratch under the little doggo’s chin between the fluff. “Do you wanna play, mm?” 

The dog just keeps looking at him. And when the door opens a bit more and Kihyun appears (no onesie, just a baggy t-shirt and baggy sweatpants), the dog walks back inside, padding, head tilting from side to side.

The first thing Changkyun really, _really_ notices, though, is that familiar sweet smell of candy. Except, now that he’s all _in the know_ , he knows that’s all just… Kihyun. It catches him completely off guard.

“Hi.”

"Hi…" Kihyun mumbles, eyes cast down. His hair is a mess, like a bird nested in there. And he's a little thinner than Changkyun remembers.

It’s been, what, four months? Since Changkyun last saw him. Something like that. 

“You still kinda look like shit,” Changkyun smiles. 

"Rude…"

Changkyun reaches into the satchel and brings out the other bag. “Here. Sorry for the… mild blackmailing, just wanted to check up on you.”

Kihyun glances up at Changkyun's hand and then further up at his face. "Why do you care so much?"

Changkyun purses his lips into a line like smile, shrugging. He’s said it before and will say it again; “Sometimes life just be like that.”

Kihyun frowns and looks down as he reaches forward to take the blood bag. "Life is stupid…"

“Well,” Changkyun says. “I am people. And, as we know, people are stupid, too. Everything’s a little bit stupid.”

"Right," Kihyun says. "Well, thank you for…" he gestures up with the blood bag.

“Yeah, no worries,” Changkyun says, smiles small. “If… you need more, just let me know. You look too thin. From a medical point of view, obviously,” Changkyun adds, both hands up like that absolves him of any responsibility for his own concern.

Kihyun frowns and looks down at himself. "Knew the bed felt bigger…"

Changkyun pouts. Another life, huh? Except, this isn’t another life. This is _this_ life, and it’s the only one either of them will ever know. 

“Kihyun… Minhyuk has barely left the hospital, and I know he’s your only friend. Are you okay? And don’t ask me why I care, just let me.”

Kihyun looks at Changkyun and says softly, "Oh no, he's attached…"

Changkyun huffs a laugh. “Just my luck, right?” 

And Kihyun looks all over Changkyun with a blank expression before just sort of… stepping aside. "It's really small… but if you… want to come in…?"

Changkyun blinks like he’s not sure he heard Kihyun right. “Wha--Yeah! Yeah.” Changkyun takes a step forward and the smell of _sweet_ hits him again. “Shit, it’s like walking into a cupcake bakery or something,” he mumbles, smiles as he looks around.

It’s small, but it’s... nice. 

There's a bed, a carpet between it and the small table with a computer on it and a pillow for a chair. There's a small fridge and, apparently, a really small bathroom. The wardrobe looks like it's the size of a locker. And everything is tidy and clean, except for two packages of juice near the bed.

Changkyun puts Minhyuk’s satchel down on the bed. “It’s weird to see a house without, like, a kitchen with a stove and all that stuff. Then again, you don’t need it, so, makes sense.” 

Kihyun closes the door and walks towards the pillow by the desk. He plops down and stares at the blood bag. "Not really, no… I can cook, though. I get bored sometimes so I watch cooking videos."

“Oooh, me too! Watched this thing on how to cook eggs last night? I put it on while I study, because it’s nice background noise but there were like, seventy different ways, it’s insane.”

Kihyun looks up and blinks, eyes a little wide. "Seventy?"

“Something like that, hang on,” Changkyun says, leaning against the wall and getting out his phone, does a quick Google. “Fifty nine. Overshot there, a bit. But still! That’s a lot of ways!”

“I didn’t know that…” Kihyun mumbles. He looks down and shrugs. “Usually, when I get paid I usually buy groceries for Minhyuk… as thanks for all the--” Kihyun gestures at the blood bag in his hand. “Juices are not that expensive so… Anyway, he asks me to make him food. So, I had to practice because I can’t really try it… And he’s so picky. Imagine if _I_ was that picky.”

Changkyun laughs. “What, like only AB+ blood, the rest is shit, obviously. Do you have a favourite?”

“AB, actually,” Kihyun mutters. “But all of them are fine.”

“O,” Changkyun says and then realises it just sounds like ‘oh’. “I’m an O, I mean. Look, we’re bonding.”

“You don’t have antigens,” Kihyun says and it sounds borderline teasing. “I like them antigens.” 

“Aw, damn,” Changkyun teases, jokes. “Now there’s an insecurity I never expected.”

“It’s fine, you still smell nice. Er--” Kihyun blinks. “I mean. As… food. Obviously… _Ugh.”_

Changkyun rolls his eyes, smiling, still just… standing there. “I already told you, you smell like candy, so. Thanks?”

“Hm…” Kihyun looks down at the blood bag and swallows. “How’s… university?”

“It’s hard,” Changkyun says, frowning. “You should drink that, all of it. I can get you more, like I said you look way too thin.”

“People need these,” Kihyun says. “It’s fine, I can do with just a bit mixed with juice.”

Changkyun sighs, moves closer to plop himself down on Kihyun’s bed to sit, looking at him. “You realise there’s like… an estimated eighty five million of those being used every year. If you need, like, three a month, that’s thirty six for a whole year. It’s nothing, it’s fine, drink the damn blood.”

Kihyun glances up at Changkyun and then at the blood bag. “So… it’s not a nuisance?”

Changkyun frowns but sighs, looking over. “No, Kihyun, your continued existence is not a nuisance… I really don’t understand why you say that.”

Kihyun looks at something and makes to get up, moving closer and fetching a straw before slumping back. “Remember how they found out about us? Someone, a young vampire with ideas of grandeur slipped up and… killed someone…?” Kihyun frumbles with the blood bag and then brings it up to his mouth. 

Changkyun sees them peeking out. He hadn’t noticed them before but he knows they sort of retract when not in use; fangs. And there’s four of them, thin but still thick enough to pierce through skin and leave a mark.

Kihyun bites at the plastic of the bag and easily makes a tiny hole in it, then fits the straw in and starts slurping. He seems to deflate a little for a moment, like he’s melting where he’s sitting.

“I remember,” Changkyun says, low, like talking too loud will break something.

“There’s like… ten of us, total, in Seoul. We don’t see each other that often, really. You’d think we’d have vampire clubs and what not… but my people are… loners. _And_ possessive. Walk ten yards within their selected walking blood bags and they’ll hiss and chase you… But… Well, as if that wasn’t enough, I’m not actually very good at being a vampire. And you know how people are like… You’re nice, but not everyone is nice. They say things, hurtful things. And… I just feel like this in-between, not being able to behave like vampires do and not being fully accepted by humans either even though I try not to meddle.”

Changkyun could feel himself pout as Kihyun spoke. “I’m sorry… I know it’s not much, but… I mean, I don’t mind. That you’re a vampire. That would be stupid.”

“Even if sometimes I fantasise about biting you?” Kihyun says and smiles a little, straw between his teeth, eyes on the floor.

Changkyun puts a hand to his chest. “I am actually _so flattered_ ,” Changkyun teases. “Honestly, as long as you don’t kill me, I’m fine.”

Kihyun glances up and then shakes his head a little. “I don’t… I don’t like it. _I mean…_ Hm… It’s like… it _feels_ good, because it’s _the_ experience. But that doesn’t mean I like the conditions and the implications. Does that make sense?”

Changkyun smiles, nodding. “Yeah, it does. You could say the same about sex, really, so I’m trying to relate,” Changkyun laughs, feels his ears go a little pink. 

“Can’t talk about things I’ve never done,” Kihyun scoffs.

“I’m just saying,” Changkyun laughs, blushes some more. _For real?_ “Like, yay sex, yay sucking blood, but it’s gotta be like… consentual and stuff. I… am rambling, sorry,” Changkyun laughs again, hand over his face.

Kihyun slurps until it makes a loud sound. And then reaches for the plastic bag and throws the empty blood bag inside it, closing it with a knot. “I’m still sorry by the way… that I tried to trick you.”

“It’s okay,” Changkyun says softly. “That’s the big difference between this and sex, I guess. You do actually need it. And I get wanting to not rely on someone else for something like that.” Changkyun frowns. “Although I guess that’s unavoidable.”

Kihyun drags himself to the little freezer and brings out a pack of juice. He pauses, though, and brings out another that he hands over to Changkyun. “Here…”

Changkyun huffs a small laugh. “Thanks,” he says as he takes it, looks at it. “I swear this is the juice I bought you that night. We’ve come full circle.”

Kihyun huffs a laugh and and opens his juice to take a drink. His cheeks puff, so full it looks like he’s going to spill. But then he swallows and falls back. “Ahhhhh, I am alive…”

“Don’t you get sick of always drinking juice?” Changkyun asks, stabbing his little packet to slurp at the straw. It’s nice.

“Sometimes,” Kihyun mutters. “But then I switch brands. Thankfully, there’s hundreds of them.”

“Mm, true,” Changkyun hums, looks at the box before glancing at him, smiling a little mischievous. “I kinda… felt that possessive thing you just mentioned, when we were dancing.” 

Kihyun frowns, eyes on the ceiling. “Sorry…”

“Don’t apologise,” Changkyun slurps nonchalantly. “It was really hot.”

Kihyun blinks slowly at the ceiling, face turning a little pink. “It wasn’t… creepy?”

“Well, now that I know you wanted to sink your teeth in,” Changkyun jokes, laughs. “No, not really. I mean, I was kind of draping myself over you, so…” Stop flirting with the vampire, Changkyun.

“That’s fine…” Kihyun mumbles. “Honestly… it didn’t help that you were doing all that. You’d be surprised how often needs overlap. Like… when your tummy hurts and you can’t tell if you wanna barf or take a shit…”

Changkyun bites in his lips not to laugh. “ _Needs?_ ” 

“You just want me to say you’re hot…”

“No, but thank you,” Changkyun laughs, face a little warm. “It’s really unfair, you know. I’ve gone dancing soooo many times and never gave anyone else a second thought, and then you show up with your pink sweater and Stan Smiths and here I am, months later, and I still think you’re stupidly cute.”

Kihyun puffs a breath and sits up, ears and cheeks pink. He takes a sip from his juice and then glances at Changkyun. “Not for lack of me trying to change your mind…”

“I can stop,” Changkyun says, smiling. “If you want me to.”

Nugget pads closer and then over to Kihyun’s lap. Kihyun buries his fingers in the soft fur and sighs, looks down as he contemplates whatever it is he is contemplating.

Eventually, Kihyun says, “I want you to stop… and I think you know why. But… at the same time, part of me kind of looks forward to it…”

Changkyun slides down the bed, butt plopping onto the floor as he stretches his legs out. “Then I guess I’ll just keep calling you cute until you kick me out,” Changkyun scoffs, leans his back against the bed. 

“Don’t you have better things to do?” Kihyun scoffs, shifts a little and moves next to Changkyun. Another Kihyun could fit between them, but it’s closer than before.

“I’ve been told I study too much,” Changkyun shrugs. “Maybe I’ll make you my hobby to get out of the house.”

Kihyun sinks down a little against the bed and says nothing. But when Changkyun looks over he finds him smiling a little. 

“Does that mean I can come back…?” Changkyun asks, swaying a little from side to side.

“Maybe…” A pause. “Only if you bring juice.”

“Being your friend is hard work,” Changkyun laughs. “But yeah, sure. Think of all the dancing I can cash it in for, later,” Changkyun teases.

Kihyun’s nose scrunches a little. “Does it have to be at a club?”

“Nope,” Changkyun says, popping the ‘p’. “You don’t like clubs, do you? I just go for the dancing, so...”

“We don’t need a club to dance, though…” Kihyun says. “And no, I don’t like clubs. Everyone smells ten times stronger.”

“I just worked an eight hour shift, I must smell _so much_ ,” Changkyun laughs. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I told you, you smell nice.”

Changkyun quirks a smile. “Is it, like... Difficult to stop or something?”

“What, smelling? I mean, I can always not breathe and die,” Kihyun deadpans.

“No,” Changkyun giggles, sinking down. “Like, if you were to bite me. You’re worried about killing people so I assume it’s difficult to stop.”

Kihyun glances over and pouts. “I’ve… never really done it. Minhyuk shoved his finger into my mouth a couple of times back in the day but… I’ve never done it properly so I don’t know if I’d… be able to stop. I’ve heard it’s a bit difficult, though… But--” Kihyun blinks. “It’s alright when I’m full. And I just drank a whole bag so I am more than fine. It’s like… entering a candy shop? You smell the candy but you don’t particularly want to eat it. Still, you know it smells good.”

Changkyun raises an eyebrow. “So… Now would be a good time to kiss you?”

Kihyun’s eyes go wide and Changkyun swears he can hear the loud beat Kihyun’s heart gives, what with the way he seems to jump where he sits. “Uhm… Ma--Maybe…? I--” he looks down and brings a hand up to his mouth. “You can’t kiss me right now… I just had--” he points at the plastic bag with the blood bag inside.

For some reason, Changkyun’s chest just warms. There’s really no reason for a vampire to be this cute and endearing, and yet… “Then… Can I hold your hand?” Changkyun asks, blushing a little. 

Kihyun looks at his hand and then frowns, swallows and moves one finger closer as if to say ‘hold on’. He scrambles up, Nugget slipping off his lap with the most relaxed dog-smile ever, and rushes to the bathroom, which makes Changkyun want to laugh. Kihyun doesn’t even close the door and Changkyun can hear things falling and water running for a moment. 

_Why is this so fucking cute!_

When Kihyun emerges from the bathroom and plops down in front of Changkyun, he smells a little like toothpaste. “Okay. You can now,” Kihyun says, eyes a little wide on Changkyun, ears pink. He looks quite determined though.

Changkyun fights a wide smile by biting down on his bottom lip. His chest doesn’t warm because, he realises, it’s just… _been like that_ for a while now. He reaches over for Kihyun’s hand, though, and it’s stupid soft.

“Did you just... Brush your teeth so I can hold your hand?” Changkyun teases, eyes on his own thumb tracing the back of Kihyun’s hand.

“No?” Kihyun blinks and then frowns. “I brushed my teeth so you can kiss me.”

Changkyun laughs softly, tugging Kihyun closer by the hand. “Was just making sure,” he says, just as he leans in to press his lips against Kihyun’s. 

_Goddammit_. Does his heart really have to jump like that?

Kihyun sighs a little and Changkyun feels him melt a little. And honestly, for someone who’s never kissed anyone before, the way Kihyun shifts closer--obviously way stronger than Changkyun would ever be even if he attended the gym on a regular basis--knees on each of Changkyun’s sides, Changkyun having to tip his chin up to keep kissing Kihyun, feels almost practiced.

So, Changkyun runs his hands down Kihyun’s sides before wrapping his arms around his waist to pull him closer. It doesn’t… feel like he’s not kissing a human? Just a very sweet smelling human, really. With sharp teeth and superhuman strength. 

Kihyun pulls away just a little, both arms coming up to rest over Changkyun’s shoulders. “I’m… bad luck, you know that, right? And also the worst person to fit in the usual dating scenario…”

“Stop,” Changkyun says, kisses Kihyun’s mouth. “Talking,” and kisses his cheek. “Like that.”

Kihyun rolls his eyes, cheeks pink. “You’re not all that special to change me in a beat of heart, good smelling human.”

“Mmm, how many heartbeats, then? I have time.”

Kihyun grins a little, and leans in again as he mumbles. “I’ll let you know.”

**3 MONTHS LATER**

It’s _great!_

It’s better than Kihyun had imagined.

The first month was a bit stressful, mostly because Kihyun was scared of messing up. The second month was testy, mostly because Kihyun expected Changkyun to get tired of certain things; not being able to see Kihyun sometimes even if it means canceling a few hours before (Kihyun makes sure to warn every morning), having to do extra hours whenever they want to go out because Kihyun can’t hang out when it’s sunny, not being able to share things beyond juice… _blablablabla._

But it’s great. Because Changkyun doesn’t ask for more than simple things, simple things Kihyun is beyond happy to give, because he’s always, always wanted to but never got the chance; things like sharing a blanket, kissing just because (among other things that are literally no one’s business).

It’s not rainbows and sunshine (which, actually, lots of sunshine because it burns--stupid human metaphors) all the time, and even though Kihyun feels like half their troubles would be solved if he could be human and not a vampire, ever since he gave Changkyun a chance, it feels like living ultralife.

Days used to pass slowly, and Kihyun was a little lost and low. But Changkyun came along and gave him a little hope, mostly because he showed Kihyun he can have the things everyone else does with the occasional adaptation.

Like today’s date; meeting at sundown, way past ten because Changkyun leaves later on fridays. _Doctors work hard._ Well… _depends._

Kihyun leans back against the wall, makes himself as flat as possible and waits. The grin that spreads on his face when Changkyun walks out through the E.R. doors, and stops to look at the parking lot like he expects Kihyun to be there and not (obviously) a few paces behind waiting to pounce, is so wide it almost hurts. But Kihyun still runs silently on his tiptoes and jumps, legs and arms wrapping around Changkyun, lips latching onto his neck with loud, “Nomnomnomnomnomnom”s.

Kihyun can afford to do that now, he drinks one blood bag a week, sometimes two. It doesn’t mean sometimes he won’t get sudden cravings and will have to lock himself at home and pretend Nugget is a muscled horse and not a dog that barely reaches Kihyun’s knees. But it doesn’t even tingle now, when he gets to be playful and clingy like this.

Changkyun laughs, arms automatically coming down to hold Kihyun’s legs and hike him up. “Aaah, a vicious vampire,” Changkyun jokes. “Save me!”

“You’re sweaty,” Kihyun mumbles around Changkyun’s skin like one would around a churro.

“You like it,” Changkyun says, pinching at Kihyun’s thigh where he holds him up. “Is that _pink_?”

Kihyun wiggles his pink sweater paws in front of Changkyun’s face. “Yeeees,” he says, tongue pasted to Changkyun’s neck like he’s an icicle and Kihyun is stuck. “How was work?”

“Busy, hence the sweat,” Changkyun scoffs, just keeps walking even with Kihyun clinging to him. 

“I had a bag today before coming so I’m fine if you wanna hang out _close._ Like, if you’re tired and you just want to be close.”

Changkyun pouts, leans away from Kihyun to look at him. “We can..? Honestly, I just want pizza and cuddles right now.”

Kihyun was kind of looking forward to hanging out. But he smiles and nods. “Dunno about pizza but cuddles sounds nice!”

“We don’t have to go home, though,” Changkyun says, leans in for a small kiss. “Have you ever been to the outlook?”

“We go home so I can snuggle your legs.” A pause. “Also, no… Never.”

Changkyun laughs. “It’s, like--you drive there and you can look out at the city. It’s Friday so I doubt there will be anyone else, they’re all out clubbing or dying at home, so you can still snuggle my legs.”

Kihyun narrows his eyes and then wiggles himself out of Changkyun’s hold, still taking his lab coat into his own arm and taking his hand. “Sounds good. Can I still come over, though? I left Nugget with Minhyuk…” He raises an eyebrow and stops walking, just stretches his leg forward and says, (despite his jeans being in the way), “I’m all smooth today.”

Changkyun blinks down at his leg and pouts, whines like a puppy seeing a treat. “Move in with me.”

Kihyun’s heart jumps a little and he blinks. “Huh?” _It’s a joke, right?_ It’s gotta be.

Changkyun seems to, at that exact moment, realise what he’d said and flushes, reaching up to scratch behind his head. “I… Was going to ask. A lot better than that, actually… It’s just, Jooheon’s moving out and in with Min and I really like you…”

Kihyun feels his shoulders slump a little. And it’s not even the prospect of breaking up one day, if things don’t work out, because they could totally stay friends. But… “I’m a vampire… What would I do when I have _those_ days…?”

Changkyun looks down, shrugs with one shoulder. “Lock yourself in the other bedroom? There are two,” he huffs a small laugh. “Or we could… try? For you to, y’know.”

 _Try…_ Changkyun taught Kihyun that sometimes trying helps, because it’s better than sitting back and moping about the could have beens. It’s basically what they’ve been all about so far; trying.

“Then,” Kihyun mumbles, looks down and blinks. “Next month? We can try next month…” It’s only a few days away, anyway, and it gives Kihyun some time to mentally prepare himself.

“Okay,” Changkyun says, sounding a bit more cheerful and ducking in to give Kihyun a quick kiss. “Thanks, baby.”

Kihyun smiles as his whole body shivers, “Aish, he dropped the ‘baby’ word, oh no!”

Changkyun cackles and reaches for Kihyun’s hand, pulls him to walk to his car, but then Kihyun grins and tugs back, _hard,_ until Changkyun sort of stumble around and Kihyun catches him with a kiss.

When Kihyun leans back, he’s biting at his lower lip, which automatically makes his fangs peek out a little at the sides. “Can’t wait to watch you devour a whole pepperoni pizza with _extra_ pepperoni.”

Changkyun melts, whines again. “You have the weirdest kinks but oh my god so do I.”

Kihyun giggles a little and turns to tug at Changkyun’s hand. “Come on, good smelling human. Let’s hunt down a pizza for you.”

And maybe Kihyun will always sort of feel like he is bad luck, but there are some very good coincidences, too. And maybe he’ll always have days when he feels sick inside his head, a sea of bitterness, waves crashing against life because it made things so complicated, but even then, even when Kihyun is alone with all that, he knows all he needs to do is try.

All because he went out to suck at hunting, and honestly, he’s glad he did. _Because I found you._ And slowly, there’s love falling like the rain, more than Kihyun could’ve asked for.

And if all up until then was life, Kihyun is definitely, now, living ultralife.


End file.
